Video camera found in women's bathroom

HILTON HEAD ISLAND - A Hilton Head Island convenience store clerk has been arrested following the discovery of a video camera in a public bathroom, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

Emilio Felipe Derutte-Casas, 51, was arrested Thursday afternoon on one count of being a Peeping Tom after a video camera was found hidden July 23 in the women’s bathroom of the Mathews Drive Kangaroo Express. The camera was discovered by a female customer when she accidentally dislodged it from its hiding place in the restroom’s toilet paper dispenser.

The customer immediately notified store personnel and the Sheriff’s Office. The camera was seized and investigators were able to identify Casas, a store employee, as the suspect responsible for installing the camera. A search warrant was executed at Casas’ apartment in Woodlake Villas Thursday evening where computers and other evidence were seized for forensic analysis, authorities said.

The case remains active as investigators are working to determine how long the camera may have been in operation and recording.